Cement form stake



April 23, 1968 J. c. SHOEMAKER 3,378,968

CEMENT FORM STAKE Filed Oct. 22, 1965 I2. James /zoema/(ew United StatesPatent M 3,378,968 CEMENT FORM STAKE James C. Shoemaker, Rockford, Ill.,assignor to Andrew F. Wintercorn, Rockford, Ill. Filed Oct. 22, 1965,Ser. No. 502,228 1 Claim. (Cl. 52-155) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thiscement form stake is of cylindrical form and of a length sufficientlylonger than the width of a form board to be supported thereby, so thatit is adapted to be driven into the ground vertically to apre-determined depth for good support of the board, leaving a lengthprojecting above the board so that the projecting upper end may bestruck on the inner side facing the form board to incline the stake awayfrom the standing form board in the form stripping operation to loosenit and enable easier removal. The stake has a pointed lower end and afiat upper end adapted to be hammered upon, and has horizontal annulargrooves provided therein in, vertically spaced relation adaptedselectively to receive a staple at a selected elevation for thefastening of the form board to the stake. U-shaped staples are used tofasten the boards to the stakes, each staple having the legs spacedslightly under the base diameter of the annular groove in which thestaple is to be entered to permit hand placement of the staple,frictionally straddling the stake preliminary to driving the staple homein the board.

This invention relates to a forged stake designed for use by cementcontractors for the speedy and economical erection and stripping ofcement forms and the like.

The principal object is to provide a low-cost but extremely durableforged cement form stake which will avoid all of the objections inherentin the fiat wooden stakes previously employed, which were difiicult todrive into hard earth and were apt to split either during the driving orthe nailing of the form boards thereto, besides having the tendency toturn askew enough to throw the stake out of alignment with the flatnailing surface of the form board, the present stake by virtue of itscylindrical form being easy to drive down to the required depth and thenbe fastened to the form board usually with one staple entered in any oneof a series of parallel annular grooves provided therefor in the upperportion of the stake. The grooves are purposely made of a diameterslightly greater than the span of the staples used for nailing to theform boards so that a staple applied by hand in a groove is not apt tofall out and can be easily driven home with one or two blows of ahammer, for speedier erection of forms and equally speedy strippinglater when all that is required is a blow on the inner side of the upperend of the stakes to loosen the staples enough to permit their easyremoval, if they dont pop out, the stakes being then also easilyremovable by reason of the extent of enlargement of the hole in theground, the grooves adding a non-slip handle grip surface to enablepulling out by hand in many instances.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cement form stake made in accordance with myinvention, the same being hown about half size with an intermediateportion of the length of the pointed lower end portion broken away toconserve space in the drawing, the stakes being preferably, though notnecessarily, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and about twofeet long;

FIG. 2 is a face view of a cement form showing two Patented Apr. 23,1968 stakes made in accordance with my invention stapled to two abuttingform boards;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are two views illustrating in FIG. 3 the medium tight fitof the staple to permit application by hand to the stake and in FIG. 4the way in which the staple when driven home fastens the stake to aboard, and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are two cross-sections at right angles to FIG. 2illustrating in FIG. 5 the supporting position of the stake adjacent toa form board and in FIG. 6 how readily it can be removed by a blow onthe upper end from the inner side causing the single staple usually topop out or loosen sufficiently to permit its easy withdrawal, afterwhich the stake is easily removable from its enlarged hole in theground.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

The steel stake body 7 is forged to cylindrical form as shown with aconical point 8 on its lower end and a series of horizontal'annulargrooves 9 near the upper end in uniformly spaced parallel relationleaving a plain upper end portion 10, on the flat top 11 of which thestake will be struck when driven into the ground with a sledge hammer,two of these stakes 7 being so indicated in FIG. 2 driven into theground 12. The grooves 9 are large enough to receive a staple 13, andthe base diameter of the grooves i slightly larger than the span of thestaples so as to permit entering a staple or staples by hand in any oneor more of the grooves 9 with a slight spreading of the legs, so thatthe workman need not worry thereafter about the staple or staplesfalling off while he raises or lowers the form board 14 to the level ofthe grade before driving the staple or staples into the board. Usuallyone staple 13 is enough for each stake but, of course, more than one maybe driven in if that is considered necessary, depending, of course, onhow Wide the boards are and how firmly anchored one wants the boards tobe.

In operation, enough of the head end 10 of each stake 7 is leftprojecting above the form boards 14, as indicated at 15 in FIGS. 2, 5,and 6 so that after the cement, indicated at 16 in FIG. 6, has set andit is time to strip off the forms, the workman can strike the stakes ontheir inner side as indicated by the arrow 17 in FIG. 6 to loosen themand also loosen the staples 12 sufficiently so that they can be easilyremoved, if they dont pop out by the lateral motion of the stake alone.Then the stakes can be easily pulled out of the ground, because of thewidening of the hole, as indicated at 18 in FIG. 6, using a claw hammer,crow bar, or the like, if necessary, entered in any one of the annulargrooves 9. An advantage of the grooved length on the stake is that itforms a non-slip handle for easier pulling out by hand.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination, a form board supporting stake comprising an elongatedrigid cylindrical metal stake body of a length sufiiciently longer thanthe width of the form board to be supported thereby so that it isadapted to be driven into the ground vertically to a predetermined depthfor form-board support leaving a length projecting above the groundlevel to more than the width of a form board to be backed up thereby, sothat the projecting upper end may be struck on the inner side facing theform board to incline the stake away from the standing form board in theform stripping operation, said stake body having a pointed earthentering lower end and a fiat upper end that is adapted to be hammeredupon and having horizontal annular grooves provided therein invertically spaced 4 relation in that portion that is usually aboveground level 1,428,247 9/ 1922 Morris 85-21 X and behind the form board,said grooves being adapted 1,736,807 11/ 1929 Thomas 8549 X selectivelyto receive a staple at a selected elevation for the 1,855,471 4/1932Buchanan 85-49 X fastening of a form board to the stake, and a U-shaped2,835,017 5/ 1958 Hoerr 52-155 X staple, the legs of which are spacedslightly under the base 5 3,305,985 2/1967 Dean 52155 diameter of theannular groove in which it is entered, whereby to permit hand placementof the staple in the FOREIGN PATENTS groove frictionally straddling thestake preliminary to 2521537 1912 Germanyd th t 1 h t th t tgiyllrgstaigap e ome in a form board to fas en e lat er FRANK L. ABBOTTPrimary Examiner- 10 References Cited PRICE C. FAW, R. S. VERMUT,Assistant Examiners.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 401,782 4/1889 Howlett 52-103

